Dispensers for sheet products are known in the art; such articles may be relatively simple depending on the product and the result desired. There is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,810,200 to Trokhan, for example, a tissue package provided with a dispensing opening through which tissues are dispensed. There is disposed in the opening an engaging tab which separates one tissue from another when a tissue is pulled thereover by a user.
Other devices for dispensing sheet products may be more complex, for instance, when it is desired to distribute one article at a time. Illustrative in this regard are U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,746 to Andriash for a one-at-a-time coupon dispenser and U.S. Pat. No. 6,135,315 to Gremillion III et al. for a newspaper vending method and apparatus. So also, metering paper towel dispensers are typically those where a continuous roll or fan-fold sheet is advanced and cut to a desired length; see U.S. Pat. No. 2,850,345 to Marcuse et al.
Devices for dispensing stacks of folded napkins or paper towels are generally gravity feed devices, or spring biased devices where the stack is urged to a dispensing aperture by a follower, where they are pulled from the opening by a user. Various designs have been employed to prevent binding, tearing, bunching or the distribution of large clumps of napkins which can be wasteful since they will be unnecessarily discarded.
In the U.S. Pat. No. 4,155,484 to Pastore there is shown a napkin dispenser adapted to receive two stacks of napkins. The napkins are urged by respective spring members to a dispensing aperture where they may be grasped and removed by a user.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,938,382 to Frazier et al. discloses a cabinet for dispensing paper sheets from a stack provided with a restricting means for preventing a technician from overfilling the device. Such overfilling can create unwanted pressure about the dispensing aperture and prevent proper operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,100,020 to Petterson et al. discloses a dispenser apparatus for serially dispensing products such as paper napkins from a stack. The dispenser apparatus includes a housing which has a radius of curvature corresponding to the radius of curvature of a stack of folded napkins. The folded napkins are of non-uniform thickness by virtue of the fact that they are unequally folded (FIG. 3) so that a stack has an inherent tendency to curve when stacked.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,219,092 to Morand discloses a dispenser for dispensing interleaved folded towels. The dispenser has front and back walls joined by sidewalls and a bottom wall defining a dispensing slot. The dispenser is provided with a plurality of supports projecting inwardly from the interior of the front and back walls for partially supporting substacks of paper towels in the dispenser. The supports reduce the weight carried on the bottom of each sub-stack. Further provided is a stepped bottom profile to facilitate dispensing.